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Bashed potatoes

Mark Deferse, 6, a first-grader at Fairview Elementary School, eats an Italian sub sandwich during lunch last week in the school cafeteria.
Colorado lawmakers are grappling with new federal school-lunch standards that limit starchy vegetables on the menu. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

WASHINGTON — New proposed school lunch standards have some members of the Colorado congressional delegation wrangling.

Over potatoes.

Both small and large, purple and brown and gray — but not sweet ones, it turns out.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has suggested changing the rules on what can be served to more than 31 million kids — 394,683 in Colorado — who eat school lunch every day.

The proposed changes include lowering calorie counts and delivering more fruits, leafy green vegetables and whole grains. And they would limit the servings of starchy vegetables — including potatoes, lima beans, corn and peas — to 1 cup, once a week.

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Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat, opposes the new rules and, in a July letter he co-authored, called for restricting the USDA from using any of its funds to implement the rule that "unnecessarily discriminates" against white potatoes, corn, lima beans and green peas. It wouldn't change the funding for school lunches; it would just prohibit the agency from acting on the policy.

Udall worries that potatoes, which are a rich source of fiber and potassium, are getting a bad reputation that will ultimately cripple an almost $300 million industry in Colorado.

"I'm going to keep fighting for a balanced school lunch policy and encouraging children and families to stay active and healthy," Udall said.

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Rep. Jared Polis, also a Democrat, has, along with a giant Washington nutrition lobby, praised the new standards.

"Just to be clear, this policy doesn't ban potatoes," the congressman from Boulder said. "But our obesity rates are rising, and this leads to more health care costs, life problems that we all end up paying for. We can start to prevent that by having more nutrition in the schools. It's just common sense to make sure kids have a good meal."

Fairview Elementary first-grader Kelly Vu carries her hot lunch garden chili, a cinnamon roll and fruit to the checkout stand in the cafeteria on a recent morning.
(Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Colorado has an influential potato- growing region, ranking fourth-largest nationally in 2010 with $293 million in yields.

The potato farmers have a sizable lobby. Through various farm groups, they have doled out tens of thousands of dollars in 2011 in lobbying money against these standards.

The only person in Colorado's delegation who has received any money this year from the potato lobby is Rep. Scott Tipton, a Cortez Republican, who got $500. He represents the state's potato- farming region in the San Luis Valley and opposes the new standards.

Most of the remaining members of Colorado's delegation have remained silent on the issue.

The USDA arrived at the proposed rules — which also call for a minimum and a maximum calorie allocation per child based on age, as well as a daily sodium limit — after consulting with scientists and doctors from the Institute of Medicine over a multiyear period, said Food and Nutrition Service spokeswoman Jean Daniel.

They received more than 132,000 public comments this year during rulemaking, and nutrition advocates are worried that the potato lobby will pressure members of Congress to hold up the implementation of the entire set of rules.

"This does more than just address vegetables," said Margo Wootan with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "I think the USDA has been very reasonable. Kids can have potatoes, but instead of every day they wouldn't be on the menu more than twice a week. The biggest concern is French fries."

Wootan says studies show that when kids eat lunch, half the time they don't eat a vegetable, and when they do, 75 percent of the time they choose something starchy.

Some lawmakers, including Udall and Sen. Michael Bennet, said they were worried the new rules will put an undue burden on school districts because a box of potatoes runs cheaper than, say, a box of tomatoes.

"I'm concerned about the toll of the regulation on Colorado schools and farmers, especially when the economy is down and schools are struggling to find the resources to keep teachers in classrooms," Udall said.

Bennet agreed, saying he doesn't want to burden school districts.

The USDA will give school districts an additional 6 cents per meal to compensate for costs when the rules take effect in the fall of 2012.

Meanwhile, Monte Vista potato farmer — and former school-board member — Jim Mattive is engrossed in the fall potato harvest at the moment and says his entire livelihood is getting a bad rap because of French fries.

"Potatoes are very flexible. They can be baked or mashed, and they are naturally gluten-free," Mattive said. "We feel that our potatoes provide a lot of nutrition for children as they're growing up."

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